After recently posting a photo of a giraffe she killed on a hunt in South Africa, 12-year-old big game hunter Aryanna Gourdin came under attack on social media.
One critic expressed looking forward to posting a photo standing by Gourdin’s body the way Gourdin stood by the dead giraffe.
Gourdin appeared on Fox & Friends on August 19, where she explained that her family has been hunting big game “forever.” And she detailed the reaction to hunting photos she posted on Facebook, particularly the photo of her and the giraffe. She read a response from one outraged activist, which said, “When somebody shoots you I hope I can post the same picture on my Facebook, with your head in my hand. I think they will see me as a hero, don’t you?”
Gourdin responded by saying it is “sad” that people respond in that way. She asked, “How could you value an animal’s life over a human’s?”
Another person responded to the image of Gourdin and the giraffe by calling her a “murderer.”
Mark Martineau owns Rack Em Up Hunts and has guided Gourdin on hunts in Africa. He appeared on Fox & Friends with Gourdin and explained that the outrage over seeing a giraffe or zebra hunted “plays on ignorance or [detachment] from reality.” He said, “Here in the U.S., people consider these zoo animals. In Africa, this is their main game.” Gourdin interjected that the amount of meat on a giraffe is so plenteous that they were able to “feed a village” with the animal she shot.
A Fox anchor acknowledged the “noble cause” of feeding people in need but asked why they put the photos on social media when doing so causes such a firestorm. Martineau responded, “Well, why not? I’m tired of this political correctness. I’m not about to cower down [from] doing something we’ve always done. Man has done this since the beginning of time.”
Gourdin then addressed the social media posts expressing hopes for violence against her and made clear that even the most vile comments do not make her want to stop hunting.
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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